Appabatus fob baking pies



Jan. 15, 1935. F w A N Re. 19,424

APPARATUS FOR BAKING PTES Original Filed May 25. 1932 I /v VE/VTOF, 5750W. 6/7/7250. 5r #15 flTTO/WVL' Y5.

8 used and much difficulty has been experienced by Reissued Jan. 15,1935 19,424 APPARATUS FOR. BAKING Pins Fred W. Carlson, Minneapolis,Minn, assignor to Paramount Pies, Inc., St. Paul, Minn., a corporationof Minnesota.

Original No. 1,970,735, dated August 21, 1934, Serial No. 612,889, May23, 1932. Application for reissue October 22, 1934, Serial No. 749,462

7 Claims. (01. 53-6) This invention'relates to pie baking racks and toprocesses for baking pies and kindred fruit filled pastries.

Small individual pies are now being extensively oven bottom 4, side andback walls 5, a front door 6 and a burner 'Ilocated below'the ovenbottom 4. There are also shown a number of pie pans B of the typecommonly used in baking small individual pies. Each of the pie pans Bincludes a bottom, upwardly and outwardly flaring side walls projectingtherefrom, and an outturned horizontal'flange joining the upper edges ofthe side walls. The various pies are prepared for baking in the'pans B.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided what may becalled a rack C for use in connection with the baking of pics in piepans B within such an oven as the oven A. This rack C is composedpreferably of sheet metal and it has a series of circular openin s 8 cuttherethrough, these openings preferably being of approximately the samediameter as the diameter of the side Walls of the pans B adjacent theirupper edges. The rack C has downturned flanges 9 joining the edges ofthe plate at the sides and rear thereof. If desired, the lower edges ofthese flanges may be reversely bent upon themselves, as best shown inFig. 3, to strengthen the same and the flanges preferably are set at anobtuse angle to the main body of the rack C. The flanges 9 are of aheight somewhat less than the depth of the side walls of the pie pans Bin connection with which the rack C is to be used.

In baking pies, the pies are first prepared for baking in the pie pansB, whereupon the pans are inserted within the apertures 8 of the rack C.A fork having two long tines spaced apart a distance corresponding tothe spacing between the two side flanges 9 of the rack is then used forplacing the rack C with the pans B therein in the oven. The two tines ofthe fork are run below the main body of the rack from the front endthereof, whereupon by use of the fork the rack with its contents will becarried to the oven A. The o-utturned flanges at the upper edges of theside walls of the pans B will prevent the pans from dropping through theopenings 8. The rack is placed on the oven bottom 4 so that the loweredges of the flanges 9 rest directly on the oven bottom. As the heightof the flanges 9 is somewhat less than the height of the side walls ofthe pans B, the rack will drop downwardly below the flanges of the pansB, so that the pans will all be supported directly from the oven bottom4, and small annular spaces 10 will be provided between the side wallsof the pans and the rack within the openings 8. The fork will, ofcourse, be withdrawn from the oven after the rack C has been placedtherein. Prior to the commercial bakers in properly baking these piesand in handling the same during the baking process. In order to bakethese pies properly, it is essential that more intense heat be appliedto the bottoms and sides of the pies than to the tops of the pies, sothat the sides and bottoms of the pies may be browned without burningthe tops.

If an even heat is applied to all portions of the pie, the fruit juicesforming the center of the pie will boil before the sides and bottom ofthe pie are properly cooked and, as a result, the pie will boil over orexplode before the bottom and side walls can be properly browned. Greatdifficulty is also experienced in handling these small individual piesin the oven for the reason that the pics are too light to permit the useof an ordinary baker's peel to remove the pies from the oven.

It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide aprocess for baking pies, whereby more intense heat can be directedagainst the bottoms and sides of the pies than the tops thereof to causethe bottoms and side walls to be properly browned without at the sametime causing the fruit juices of the pies to boil until the bottoms andside walls are properly cooked.

' Another object is to provide a novel rack whereby a number of smallindividual pies may be arranged for proper baking in an oven, andwhereby the pies may be collectively supported andconveniently handledwhen inserted and withdrawn from the oven.

The objects and advantages of the present invention will more fullyappear from the following description, made in connection with theaccompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to thesame or similar parts throughout the various views, and in which- Fig. 1isa vertical section taken through a portion of a bake oven, andillustrating a number of individual pie pans, as they will appear whenarranged in the rack of the present invention after it has been placedin the oven, portions of the rack'and of one of the pie pansbeing brokenaway to more clearly show the construction thereof:

' Fig. 2 'is a plan View of the rack with the pie tins removed; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, vertical section taken on the line 33 in Fig. 1,as indicated by the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, portions of an ordinary bake oven A areillustrated which include an time that the rack and pans are placed inthe oven, the oven will be heated and the rack will form an enclosureabout the bottoms and side walls of the pan Within which air moreintensely heated than the. air in the upper portion of the oven willaccumulate and be uniformly distributedgand applied -tothe severalpaths. This intensely heated air will work up'through the annular spaces10 above the pans B from below the flanges thereof without coming intodirect contact with the tops of the pies. held withinthe pans. As aresult, much more intense heat will be applied to the bottoms andsidewalls-"of pies than to the tops thereof and the side-wal'ls' andbottoms of the pies will be properly and uniformly cooked to brownrthewame ,without heating the fruit juices of the pies tousuchjan extentthat the pies will boil-oversor explode before the side walls andbottoms of themes,

are completely cooked. The pies are cooked'in manner untiltheliquidcontentsof the pies are. heated: to near the boiling point,whereupon the sidewalls-and bottomswill be browned and the rack C maythenzbe withdrawn from the oven by-ruseiof the fork previouslydescribed. The individual pies rand-the piepansB within which they arecontained, will be simultaneously lifted from the oven and --it will not,be necessary to use ;:a -ba-kers :peel for this purpose.

Should any of the pies be occasionally'overcooked soas .to result in.the escape of fruitjuices or other-;filling,-such overflow=will not bespilled onthe-ovenhearth, which is diflicult to clean, but-will becaughton the rack andcan be easily cleaned therefromafter the rack -hasbeen removed from the -oven and the 1 pie tins removed from it, thusresulting in acleaner and more sanitary condition than would otherwisebe the case.

It will be understood :that :the proper circulation and distribution ofheated "airin the-rack chamber, .below the top surfaces of the 1 pies,is an --important consideration in the baking procfor without the samethe baking process will not-be performed in the manner required.torobtainsatisfactoryxresults. Thus it is necessary to provide openingsfor the passageorcirculation of air both into and .qout :of the rackchamber, for otherwise the rackchambernwould -f,orm.littlemore;thanadead air space, in which event-alsothere -would be no tendency toeffect aguniform distribution of theintenser heat to the several pieunits arranged in spaced relation .withinthe chamber.

.-As I have alreadyrnoted, the depending; flanges 9 are arranged'at-only three side edges of the rack plate-proper, and is omitted fromthe fourth edge, vi. e., atoneend of the plate. This open .end =allowseforithe entrance and removal of the rackrcarrier fork, but also servesthe additional purpose of permitting the oven air to circulate ,into therack chamber, from which, after becoming more intensely heated, such airrises through the annular passages -10 with a wiping and heattransmitting contact with the side :walls of the pans. Thus the sidewalls of the ,pans, and also the bottoms which rest on the initially:heatedovensurface 4, will obviously be ,heated to a higher degree thanthe pie tops .which are only-exposed to the relatively coolertemperature of theoven chamber proper, which ,condition isofcourse'animportantobject of the 'invention to effect.

A ,further and very important consideration, .however. is that thisinvention .provides for a =ly; first because the non-uniformtemperatures the non-communicative rack chambers would cause some picsto bake quicker than others;

and, secondly, the :several units would necessarily'have'to be-placed inand removed from "the oven individually by an instrument such aszabakerspeel,,;and this process would not only .undulycoohthezgoven forthe unbaked pies, but .wouldzalso *beaseslow as to increase the bakingcosts to. a, point where such small pies could not be made and sold. toany profitable advantage. These 1' objections are entirely sovercome-bythis invention, -.-a-nd :the constant .-circulation .of air through myrack chamber producesauniiorm distributionof heat to the units of eachgroup, with ,a result that the pies will be baked gumformlYandcan-bemadeand sold with-,aecommercial ,profit.

As an important consideration in the use -.of the apparatus it mayhere-further be noted that whenplacedin the oven and during the bakingprocess the rack-C, :while functioning in the manner stated, has nophysicalcontact with .and places no weight or restraint on --the.pansB,r-but leaves-eachto rest on-the oven hearth in the same manner as ifthe rack were -:entirely :removed-or omitted. This freedom orclearancepermits each :pan '3 .to rest :by its own weight onthe hearth and with,freedomfor slighttilting when necessary so that its bottom surface willmake uniform-contact-awith the hearth surface,

-.thus :insuring .the absorption of uniform baking temperature by directconduction from .the hearth. In short, by,permitting.t-he.pans to-restin, the hearth as individual unitssslightirregularitiesineither the panbottom or rhearth surfaces .will not result in non-uniformmontacts ;nor.in some pans being held out -of contact, .asoccurs for instance ,inso-called .muflintins .where .the

severalmeceptacles-are fixedin the rrackwor plate unit.

The baking ,process above described and the rack used therewith, hasbeen. successfully demonstrated in-actual practice and ithaslbeenfoundthat pies baked in this manner, are much.more

delicious and more uniformly and properlycooked than pies cooked withoutuse of therack C.

It may here also .be .noted thatafter the -.pies havebeen baked theracks Emay servea further useful function in transmitting the pies .to.and from .the cooling racksandinasmuchas thepies and .racks'will reston :the cooling shelves,in.the same manner as in-thezovens .the rackswill ,in no way interfere with the cooling .of the .tins by. artificialair currents .forced into-and through the racks.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may .be made ,inthe form, .details, arrangement and proportions of the rack C and thatchanges may :be made .in the processes-described without departure 'from:the scope of the present invention, which, generally stated, consistsin the mattershown and described and set forth in the-appended'claims.=What is claimediis: vlpAn apparatus for :baking pics in :an oven.

comprising a series of pie pans having downwardly taperingfrusto-conical side walls, and for resting with their bottoms on theoven floor during the baking operation, a rack plate with openingsreceiving the pie pans and supported on the oven at a level below thetops of the pans to form a shallow heating chamber laterally surroundingthe series of pie pans, and such openings being larger than thehorizontally adjacent pie pan circumferences so as to leave annularrecesses in the plate about the several pans, said chamber having aninlet for receiving oven air to be circulated about the various pans andout through said annular recesses, whereby the sides and bottoms of thepans will be uniformly heated and at a higher degree of temperature thanthat applied to the top surfaces of the pan contents, and said panshaving outwardly projecting flanges at their upper edges for engagingthe plate when the latter is lifted, and spaced above the annularrecesses, when in baking position, to deflect the hot air current risingthrough the annular recesses laterally away from the upper surfaces ofthe pies being baked.

2. An apparatus for baking pies in an oven comprising a rack plate withopenings adapted to receive a series of pie pans having downwardlytapering frusto-conical side walls, and for resting with their bottomson the oven floor during the baking operation, said rack plate beingsupported on the oven at a level below the tops of the pans to form a.shallow heating chamber laterally surrounding the series of pie pans,and such openings being larger than the horizontally adjacent pie pancircumferences so as to leave annular recesses in the plate about theseveral pans, said chamber having an inlet for receiving oven air to becirculated about the various pans and out through said annular recesses,whereby the sides and bottoms of the pans will be uniformly heated andat a higher degree of temperature than that applied to the top surfacesof the pan contents.

3. A pie baking apparatus of the character described comprising ahorizontally disposed rack forming plate having a series of openings, aseries of individual pie pans for placement in said openings and havingperipheral flanges at their upper edges, said pans while in the rackbeing adapted to rest on an oven floor in spaced relation to each otherduring the baking operation, of means for supporting said plate over theoven bottom to form a heating chamber therewith but at a level below thelevel of the pan flanges so as to leave clearances therebetween when theplate and pans are reposing in operative position in the oven, saidopenings being'sufiiciently large to leave an annular recess about thepan walls when the pans are reposing in baking position on the ovenbottom, but of lesser circumference than the outer circumferences of therespective pan flanges so that when the rack plate is raised it willclose said clearances and annular recesses and lift the pans with it.

4. An apparatus for baking pics in an oven, comprising a rack platehaving openings adapted to receive a series of pie pans having flathottoms, upwardly flared side walls, and peripheral flanges at the upperedges of the side walls, said plate having depending flanges forsupporting the same upon the oven floor at a level below the tops of thepie pans, said openings being sumciently large to permit the pans toextend therethrough and rest upon the oven floor and to leave annularrecesses about the pans, said plate and its flanges, when placed upon anoven floor, forming a heating chamber, and said chamber having alaterally disposed inlet opening for admitting air to be circulatedabout the several pans and upwardly through said annular recesses.

5. An apparatus for baking pies in an oven, comprising a rack platehaving openings adapted to receive a series of pie pans having flatbottoms, upwardly flared side walls, and peripheral flanges at the uppersides of the side walls, said plate having depending flanges forsupporting the same upon the oven floor at a level below the tops of thepie pans, said openings being sufliciently large to permit the pans toextend therethrough and rest upon the oven floor and to leave annularrecesses about the pans, said plate and its flanges, when placed upon anoven floor, forming a heating chamber, and said chamber having alaterally disposed inlet opening for admitting air to be circulatedabout the several pans and upwardly through said annular recesses, andsaid peripheral pan flanges being of a width so as to extend outwardlyof the annular recesses to engage and be lifted by the plate proper whenthe latter has been raised from the oven floor.

6. An apparatus of the class described comprising a horizontallydisposed rack provided with openings, a series of individual pie pansfor placement in paid openings and having flanges at their upper edgesand adapted to rest on an oven floor in spaced relation to each otherduring the baking operation, said rack being supportable on the ovenbottom at a level below the level of the pan flanges so as to leaveclearance therebetween when the rack and pans are reposing in operativeposition in the oven, said openings being sufficiently large to leave anannular clearance recess about the pan walls when the pans are reposingin baking position within the rack and on the oven bottom, but of lessercircumference than the outer circumference of the respective pan flangesso that when the rack is raised it will engage the flanges and lift thepans.

7. An apparatus of the character described comprising a horizontallydisposed rack frame provided with openings, a series of pie pans forplacement in said openings and having flanges at their upper edges, saidrack frame being adapted. to engage the pans under said flanges to liftthe pans into and out of an oven, and said frame being of lesser heightthan the pans so that when placed in the oven the frame will disengagefrom the pans and permit the latter to rest on the oven bottom underonly their own individual weights and to thereby establish uniformcontacts between the bottom surfaces of the pans and the surface of theoven bottom.

FRED W. CARLSON

